Westerman Continues Investigation into Union Station Protests and Hostile Foreign Influences

Today, House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) led a letter with eight members to Brian Becker, the National Director of the Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER) Coalition, one of the groups primarily responsible for the violent and destructive riots on National Park Service (NPS) land in Washington, D.C. on July 24, 2024. In part, the members wrote:

"ANSWER and its partner organizations, including Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and AMP, have well-documented connections to Hamas and Iran. For example, SJP and AMP founder Hatem Bazian raised money for KindHearts, which was investigated and had its assets frozen due to coordination with Hamas and Hamas officials. Furthermore, the Biden-Harris White House acknowledges that Iran is involved in funding U.S.-based anti-Israel organizations and protests. These Iran and Hamas-backed organizations include CAIR and AMP, which partnered with ANSWER to protest on July 24, 2024.

"Additionally, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Department of Defense (DOD) have sounded the alarm on the CCP's longstanding efforts to use financial incentives to influence U.S.-based nonprofits and shape public opinion in the U.S. In recent years, the CCP has increased efforts to establish a "well-masked machine of influence" among U.S.-based nonprofits to promote their interests in the U.S. and across the globe.

"Because of the devastating impacts of ANSWER's July 24 demonstration on NPS land in Washington, D.C., the Committee is keen to better understand ANSWER's efforts to obtain and comply with the NPS public gathering permit, the connection between ANSWER and other nonprofit groups with which it worked to plan the July 24 demonstrations, and the flow of funds that enabled the execution of the demonstrations."

Read the full letter here.

Background

The House Committee on Natural Resources is investigating the destructive protests and riots that took place on July 24, 2024 at Columbus Circle, the National Mall and other NPS property in Washington, D.C. Hamas-sympathetic protestors vandalized many of these sites in conjunction with Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu's address to a joint session of Congress. Through this investigation, the committee has uncovered the groups who organized these destructive protests and have found concerning ties between the organizers and foreign sources including, but not limited to, the Chinese Communist Party and Hamas. This investigation is ongoing and working in conjunction with additional committees of jurisdiction investigating ANSWER and similar groups that have protested on college campuses and throughout the United States since October 7, 2023.

Read the committee's initial letter following the destructive protests here.